Auburn U., Auburn

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2023 64 86.4 459
2022 74 84.2 457 96 89.4 890
2021 68 85.1 447 154 74 583 100 89.2 907
2020 72 84.4 450 100 89.3 915
2019 76 83.4 447 152 74.6 589 105 88.7 913
2018 76 82.6 428 109 88.2 910
2017 67 84.6 425 145 75.2 575 113 87.6 897
2016 73 83.4 430 126 86.2 895
2015 72 83.5 426 160 72.3 570 130 85.8 897
2014 71 83.5 422 125 86.1 887
2013 140 76.6 588 124 86.2 884
NOTES:
  • 1. See TableBuilder for the prior year data.
  • 2. Blank white cells indicate data not available, not applicable, or institution not eligible for survey.
  • 3. Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

Data

Number of earned doctorates, by trend major field of study of recipients: 2023–14
Fields 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
All fields 305 283 250 269 253 253 284 270 257 250
  Science and engineering 235 204 179 203 189 193 203 188 185 192
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources 15 17 21 16 24 26 24 25 21 32
      Agricultural sciences 11 11 12 8 13 13 9 12 13 16
      Natural resources and conservation 4 6 9 8 11 13 15 13 8 16
    Biological and biomedical sciences 37 28 31 37 20 27 29 30 20 31
      Biochemistry and biophysics 7 3 2 2 3 . 2 1 3 4
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 9 6 7 14 1 9 7 8 3 4
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology . . 2 1 . 1 . . 1 .
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy . . . 1 1 . . . . .
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology 6 3 2 3 2 7 4 9 . 2
      Genetics and genomics 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 1 3
      Microbiology and immunology 2 1 2 3 4 2 2 4 2 4
      Molecular biology . 1 1 . . 1 1 . . 4
      Neurobiology and neurosciences . . . 1 . . . 1 . .
      Pharmacology and toxicology 5 7 3 2 1 . 3 1 2 4
      Physiology, pathology, and cancer biology . . 2 . . . . 1 2 .
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 7 6 9 9 6 4 9 3 6 6
    Computer and information sciences 16 10 5 6 3 5 6 7 13 8
      Computer science 10 5 4 6 3 4 5 7 12 7
      Computer and information sciences, other 6 5 1 . . 1 1 . 1 1
    Engineering 91 74 51 62 65 62 65 65 61 56
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 4 . 5 2 1 3 2 3 3 1
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 1 2 1
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 16 13 12 6 14 12 13 12 7 17
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 17 13 5 11 12 6 8 8 8 6
      Electrical and computer engineering 20 23 8 7 11 10 16 18 13 9
      Industrial engineering and operations research 6 6 6 15 12 12 9 7 6 6
      Materials and mining engineering 5 6 4 4 2 2 2 5 2 5
      Mechanical engineering 17 10 8 14 10 12 10 6 14 11
      Engineering, other 3 1 . 2 2 2 2 5 6 .
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 3 3 1 4 1 2 . 1 . 2
      Geological sciences 3 2 . 1 . . . . . .
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences . 1 1 3 1 2 . 1 . 2
    Health sciences 19 13 12 22 27 16 10 8 10 12
      Nursing science . 3 . . . . . . . .
      Pharmaceutical sciences 3 1 4 9 5 3 3 2 2 1
      Public health 1 1 . 2 1 2 . 1 . .
      Health sciences, other 15 8 8 11 21 11 7 5 8 11
    Mathematics and statistics 11 11 14 14 10 8 12 9 14 12
      Applied mathematics 3 4 2 1 3 3 . 2 4 1
      Mathematics . 1 . 1 1 2 2 1 5 4
      Statistics 1 2 4 2 . 1 . 2 1 .
      Mathematics and statistics, other 7 4 8 10 6 2 10 4 4 7
    Physical sciences 18 16 18 14 17 13 16 5 4 16
      Astronomy and astrophysics . 2 . . . . . . . .
      Chemistry 12 8 12 8 14 4 6 4 3 10
      Physics 6 6 6 6 3 9 10 1 1 6
    Psychology 18 21 22 18 17 26 30 28 27 15
      Clinical psychology 5 5 7 5 5 8 6 9 8 4
      Counseling and applied psychology 11 9 7 8 7 9 10 8 10 7
      Research and experimental psychology 1 2 3 2 3 1 7 6 3 2
      Psychology, other 1 5 5 3 2 8 7 5 6 2
    Social sciences 7 11 4 10 5 8 11 10 15 8
      Economics 5 8 2 6 3 5 7 6 3 4
      Political science and government . . . 3 . 1 2 2 6 1
      Public policy analysis 1 1 . . 1 1 . 2 5 1
      Social sciences, other 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 . 1 2
  Non-science and engineering 70 79 71 66 64 60 81 82 72 58
    Business 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11 2
      Business 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11 2
    Education 38 56 52 46 45 42 57 62 45 50
      Education leadership and administration 8 13 11 8 8 6 19 11 10 8
      Education research 17 16 5 14 16 24 15 23 25 20
      Teacher education and teaching fields 12 24 32 23 19 8 18 22 10 21
      Education, other 1 3 4 1 2 4 5 6 . 1
    Humanities and arts 5 7 7 6 8 5 12 11 15 5
      Letters 2 4 1 2 2 2 7 8 7 3
      Foreign languages and literature . . . . . . . 1 . .
      History 3 2 6 3 6 3 4 2 8 2
      Music and performing arts . 1 . . . . . . . .
      Humanities and arts, other . . . 1 . . 1 . . .
    Other non-science and engineering 16 7 5 7 5 4 5 4 1 1
      Communication 1 . . . . . . . . .
      Public administration and social services 9 2 5 5 1 2 1 3 1 1
      Non-science and engineering, other 6 5 . 2 4 2 4 1 . .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2022–13
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
  All R&D fields 304,439 266,374 255,281 231,619 212,925 190,340 152,381 135,899 142,487 147,229
    Science 170,164 150,674 150,910 140,109 128,417 110,695 103,839 92,721 93,847 91,873
      Computer and information sciences 5,174 5,127 5,006 4,368 2,653 1,799 1,331 0 0 240
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 4,791 4,008 3,460 2,690 2,171 3,820 2,633 3,461 2,988 2,386
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 72 0 62 61 78 59 112 117 151 44
        Geological and earth sciences 3,170 2,241 2,513 1,823 1,068 1,690 757 858 543 1,095
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 92 0 0 0 2 190 186 352 240 70
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, not elsewhere classified 1,457 1,767 885 806 1,023 1,881 1,578 2,134 2,054 1,177
      Life sciences 128,578 111,491 110,768 104,935 101,567 85,135 85,307 75,745 77,333 75,569
        Agricultural sciences 83,715 70,134 72,560 54,306 55,526 47,872 58,753 56,845 56,182 55,449
        Biological and biomedical sciences 17,753 14,099 15,224 13,317 11,229 10,317 12,248 6,975 6,732 7,508
        Health sciences 14,411 15,343 10,995 28,160 26,623 20,321 6,358 9,377 12,257 9,995
        Natural resources and conservation 1,910 986 1,143 1,280 3,101 0 0 0 0 0
        Life sciences, not elsewhere classified 10,789 10,929 10,846 7,872 5,088 6,625 7,948 2,548 2,162 2,617
      Mathematics and statistics 3,875 3,471 3,736 3,706 662 3,094 381 308 645 329
      Physical sciences 17,011 15,214 15,247 13,220 11,626 9,622 6,415 4,678 5,770 5,847
        Astronomy and astrophysics 500 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 29
        Chemistry 7,242 5,463 7,222 6,440 4,298 4,441 1,645 1,558 2,547 1,682
        Materials science 213 425 60 15 0 74 0 0 0 0
        Physics 8,907 9,147 7,842 6,710 7,303 5,107 4,767 3,120 3,217 4,135
        Physical sciences, not elsewhere classified 149 157 123 55 25 0 3 0 0 1
      Psychology 3,848 3,137 2,824 2,457 1,871 1,572 452 390 447 508
      Social sciences 3,856 6,228 6,902 5,387 5,940 4,619 4,217 2,838 3,970 3,482
        Anthropology 134 0 1 6 5 0 2 0 0 0
        Economics 139 160 1,463 40 1,664 164 1,373 181 93 44
        Political science and government 1,678 1,640 1,543 1,661 1,115 736 521 0 2 5
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 834 721 545 359 290 46 0 13 4 4
        Social sciences, not elsewhere classified 1,071 3,707 3,350 3,321 2,866 3,673 2,321 2,644 3,871 3,429
      Sciences, not elsewhere classified 3,031 1,998 2,967 3,346 1,927 1,034 3,103 5,301 2,694 3,512
    Engineering 93,219 78,720 70,593 59,742 56,233 56,657 45,572 40,249 46,263 51,672
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,193 4,196 3,723 3,250 1,574 1,677 727 373 503 636
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 2,161 1,019 1,206 1,110 4,186 773 919 1,322 5,010 1,179
      Chemical engineering 10,044 9,320 7,466 6,733 5,858 6,198 4,749 4,749 5,741 6,735
      Civil engineering 17,821 11,869 9,482 8,655 9,515 6,998 3,142 3,973 7,696 6,981
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 9,727 10,771 9,695 9,157 6,809 5,601 4,262 5,386 5,742 9,307
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 11,603 6,100 4,338 4,593 3,103 2,196 798 0 0 0
      Mechanical engineering 18,859 21,501 19,199 12,747 10,884 10,021 6,450 4,239 5,471 6,343
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,176 564 522 656 2,156 456 1,207 1,175 809 1,608
      Engineering not elsewhere classified 16,635 13,380 14,962 12,841 12,148 22,737 23,318 19,032 15,291 18,883
    Non-S&E 41,056 36,980 33,778 31,768 28,275 22,988 2,970 2,929 2,377 3,684
      Business management and business administration 17,201 15,167 14,782 15,146 11,569 8,293 1,614 1,830 1,419 2,492
      Communication and communications technologies 1,038 992 1,018 1,024 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Education 4,232 3,968 4,190 3,649 2,441 3,173 1,299 1,065 925 1,147
      Humanities 6,964 6,812 7,030 7,303 4,728 5,694 57 34 28 45
      Law 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
      Social work 428 423 205 39 29 0 0 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 0 1 0 62 1,354 0 0 0 0 0
      Non-S&E, not elsewhere classified 11,193 9,617 6,552 4,545 8,154 5,828 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2022
(Dollars in thousands)
Field All R&D expenditures Federal government State and local government Institution funds Business Nonprofit organizations All other sources
  All R&D fields 304,439 104,883 33,555 143,876 8,338 1,912 11,875
    Science 170,164 54,604 30,874 71,552 3,300 1,356 8,478
      Computer and information sciences 5,174 1,506 0 3,276 54 1 337
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 4,791 1,743 69 2,441 11 35 492
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 72 60 0 12 0 0 0
        Geological and earth sciences 3,170 878 50 2,175 0 0 67
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 92 77 0 15 0 0 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, not elsewhere classified 1,457 728 19 239 11 35 425
      Life sciences 128,578 40,300 30,195 46,816 2,852 1,184 7,231
        Agricultural sciences 83,715 21,410 27,440 26,246 2,323 815 5,481
        Biological and biomedical sciences 17,753 8,836 724 6,717 365 343 768
        Health sciences 14,411 982 1,705 10,986 0 1 737
        Natural resources and conservation 1,910 613 23 951 144 13 166
        Life sciences, not elsewhere classified 10,789 8,459 303 1,916 20 12 79
      Mathematics and statistics 3,875 516 0 3,327 0 31 1
      Physical sciences 17,011 7,721 0 9,012 212 14 52
        Astronomy and astrophysics 500 413 0 87 0 0 0
        Chemistry 7,242 2,214 0 4,926 66 0 36
        Materials science 213 178 0 35 0 0 0
        Physics 8,907 4,791 0 3,940 146 14 16
        Physical sciences, not elsewhere classified 149 125 0 24 0 0 0
      Psychology 3,848 603 225 2,760 171 51 38
      Social sciences 3,856 880 385 2,456 0 40 95
        Anthropology 134 79 0 55 0 0 0
        Economics 139 3 32 104 0 0 0
        Political science and government 1,678 41 1 1,504 0 39 93
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 834 268 0 566 0 0 0
        Social sciences, not elsewhere classified 1,071 489 352 227 0 1 2
      Sciences, not elsewhere classified 3,031 1,335 0 1,464 0 0 232
    Engineering 93,219 47,059 1,682 38,781 3,093 331 2,273
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,193 2,609 0 2,458 120 0 6
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 2,161 582 25 1,482 33 23 16
      Chemical engineering 10,044 3,919 209 5,602 78 106 130
      Civil engineering 17,821 8,937 673 6,701 921 187 402
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 9,727 4,035 168 4,492 355 9 668
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 11,603 8,026 0 3,156 240 6 175
      Mechanical engineering 18,859 10,008 25 7,451 964 0 411
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,176 286 0 752 68 0 70
      Engineering not elsewhere classified 16,635 8,657 582 6,687 314 0 395
    Non-S&E 41,056 3,220 999 33,543 1,945 225 1,124
      Business management and business administration 17,201 0 0 15,092 1,651 0 458
      Communication and communications technologies 1,038 0 0 1,027 0 0 11
      Education 4,232 600 0 3,335 0 222 75
      Humanities 6,964 173 0 6,672 0 3 116
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 428 0 0 428 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Non-S&E, not elsewhere classified 11,193 2,447 999 6,989 294 0 464

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2022–13
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
Federal Agencies 104,883 91,157 73,468 64,333 58,488 55,700 54,751 48,352 50,088 57,253
  DOD 21,851 18,413 10,945 10,592 7,600 6,463 5,059 5,984 7,501 9,794
  DOE 6,337 6,372 5,006 3,838 3,095 2,844 2,246 2,031 2,110 2,486
  HHS 16,606 15,778 16,001 13,272 12,810 11,446 10,571 8,506 7,975 8,760
  NASA 6,286 6,492 6,019 2,616 1,636 1,583 1,275 1,731 1,841 1,639
  NSF 13,750 10,226 9,435 9,361 9,239 9,072 8,664 8,117 9,465 9,305
  USDA 20,881 18,227 12,104 10,176 11,433 10,689 10,513 11,597 10,289 11,919
  Other 19,172 15,649 13,958 14,478 12,675 13,603 16,423 10,386 10,907 13,350

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Headcount of R&D personnel: 2022–16 [temporarily discontinued]
Year All personnel Principal investigators Other personnel Postdocs
2022 . . . .
2021 . . . .
2020 . . . .
2019 4,200 1,200 3,000 .
2018 2,380 976 1,404 .
2017 2,229 733 1,496 .
2016 1,690 551 1,139 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2021–12
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field 2021 2019 2017 2015 2013
  All research space 416 389 440 355 406
    Agricultural sciences 104 91 101 99 79
    Biological and biomedical sciences 22 22 18 12 22
    Computer and information sciences 9 7 8 8 0
    Engineering 164 112 121 122 183
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1 3 7 2 2
    Health sciences 16 49 72 51 59
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 1 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 48 51 53 4 .
    Physical sciences 48 50 56 53 55
    Psychology 4 4 4 4 5
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2023–14
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field Planned to start in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017 Started in FY 2014 or FY 2015
  All research space 5,000 32,472 94,244 2,475 15,600
    Agricultural sciences 5,000 0 94,244 0 0
    Engineering 0 32,472 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 2,475 15,600

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Field Planned to start in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017 Started in FY 2014 or FY 2015
  All research space 0 0 0 22,388 1,714
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 464
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 0 0 0 16,750 1,250
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 2,300 0
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 0 3,338 0
    Psychology 0 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

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